Trolley-pole and connection



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1, 5

0. H. PINSON. TROLLEY POLE AND CONNECTION.

No. 555,571. Patented'Mar. 5, 1896.

I Fr

(No Modei.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. C. H. PINSON.

TROLLEY POLE AND CONNECTION.

MAW- 1515555.

, CHARLES H. FINSON, or PITTSFIELD,

UNITED STATES MAINE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HERBERT L. WINSLOW, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TROLLE Y -POLE AND CONNECTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,571, dated March 3, 1896. Application filed July 20, 1895. Serial No. 556,584. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. FINsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, in the county of Somerset and State of Maine, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Poles and Connections Therewith, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trolley-poles and the connections therewith, such as are used upon electric cars and it has for its principal object to prevent the trolley, when it has accidentally left the wire, from flying up above said wire and doing damage to the guard-wire or to anything with which it comes in contact.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described whereby the above result is obtained, all as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my trolleypole and its connections mounted on the roof of an electric car, said trolley-pole being represented as broken out centrally in order that the figure may be on'a larger scale. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section taken through the connection with the lower end of the trolley-pole and showing a portion of said pole in elevation. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section taken through the trolley-pole at its upper end. Fig. 5 is a cross-vertical section on line at, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Ct represents the roof of a car, and a a platform thereon upon which is secured a base I) from which extends vertically a post I). A hub or sleeve cl surrounds said post and is free to rotate thereon, said hub being provided with the brackets d supporting the horizontal rod 6 which forms a pivot for the bifurcated frame A which supports the trolley-pole and whose lower end is connected by means of the pivot f with the horizontal bar or frame f.

- This bar or frame is connected by the spiral spring 9 with the bar or frame it which is held adjustably (in order that the tension of the springs g may be lessened or increased) by the horizontal bolt which is held by its head k in the downturned lip m situated at the outer end of the horizontal extension or plate m integral with and extending horizontally from the sleeve or hub cl. This adjustable bar or frame It slides on the extension m by means of the grooves h formed by the lips h which overlap the outer edges m of the extension am. (See Figs. 3 and 5.)

The construction above described does not differ essentially from that now in common use, and its object is of course to hold the trolley with an adjustable tension against the under side of the wire.

The trolley-pole consists of the two tubular portions B and O. The portion B extends directly from the supporting bifurcated frame A, and the portion 0 is pivoted at B to the portion B. By means of this pivot the por-' tion C is capable of swinging up from the portion B, but it cannot swing down with relation to the portion B by reason of the foot 0, which extends from the under side of the lower end of the portion 0 and bears normally against the shoulder B extending down from and integral with the portion B. (See Figs. 1 and 3.) Thus the portions B and C constituting the tubular trolley-pole are, when the trolley is against the wire, in a line. The object of this joint in the trolley-pole will be explained below.

At the upper end of the pole O the truck D is pivoted to it, said truck carrying the trolley-wheel E which bears on the under side of the wire Z. Swinging from the under side of this truck is the ordinary frame D, from which depends the trolley-cord D.

F is a bifurcated bracket or arm extending down from the under side of the outer end of the trolley-pole O, and pivoted at F thereto withinthe bifurcation is the swinging frame or lever H of the peculiar shape shown-that is to say, with its portion H bent outward and then bent backward and downward at H, while its extreme end is connected by a spring I with the trolley-pole 0, so that the swinging frame or lever H would be normally drawn down toward the pole G. The crosspiece L, from which the depending frame D directly extends, has its opposite ends secured in the two portions of the bifurcated truck D and is so located as to bear against the inner or rear side of the portion H, such portion .trolley vheel slips oil or jumps the wire the trolley-pole and wheel will fly up and strike the guard-wire or whatever may be in their path. It is to prevent this that the following construction has been devised: The lower portion of the swinging frame or lever ll has secured to its under side a loop or eye J, and a cord or wire K has its upper end secured to said eye and extends down through the two portions 0 and B of the trolley-pole, while its lower end is secured to a hook or loop N extending outward from apawl formed in the two parallel portions 1 which are eonnected by the lower end P. The upper ends of the two portions P of this pawl swing from a pivot '22, supported by the plate a, secured to the upper side of the portion B, and the whole pawl swings between the two portions constituting the frame A, which supports the trolley-pole.

S is astationary ratchet provided with the teeth S, secured to the rear side of the hub or sleeved, and having its toothed portion formed nearly on an arc of a circle of which the pivotal point of the trolley-pole is the cen ter. The effect is that when the trolley-wheel is pressed down with relation to the trolleypole by the wire Z the truck D, by means of the cross-piece L, forces up or back the swing ing lever ll, which, by means of the loop J, pulls the wire or cord K up within the trolley-pole, so that the lower end of said wire or cord draws the pawl P, by means of the loop N, out of contact with the teeth of the ratchet lIence while said trolley-wheel is in position the pole is free to rise and fall with the varying distance between. the car-roof and wire Z. Should, however, the trolley leave the wire, the spring I would immediately pull it up into the position indicated in broken lines in Fig. 4 and of course pull the lever 11 downward and relieve the cord K, so that the pawl I is free to drop by gravity and become engaged, by means of its portion 1 with one of the teeth S on the ratchet S. Thus the trolley-pole G will not rise when the trolley leaves the wire, but will be locked in substantially the same position by the engagement of the pawl and the ratchet, while the trolleywheel will swing up but slightly. In order to make the action of the pawl P quick, it is assisted by a spiral spring B, Fig. 3, one end of which is secured to the pawl and the other to the frame A.

It is found in practice that there are occa' sions upon which an electric car runs backward without the trolley being swung about and readjusted, such an occasion being when the car backs downhill by reason of the wheels slipping on the track. Should the trolley slip of]? the wire at such a time it peculiarly liable to receive or do damage by reason of its rigidity and of the pole pointing in the direction in which the car is moving. It is in order that the trolley-pole may yield under such circumstances, in case it strikes an obstruction, that I have joined it at 13" so that the pole may yield in an upward directien, but not in a downward direction, the latter being prevented by the parts 3 G. A spring U is secured at one end at U to the portion B of the trolley-pole, while its outer end extends through an eye U" projecting from the under side of the portion 0 of the pole, whereby the portions 15 and O are kept normally in line.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a trolley-pole and connections therewith for electric cars, the combination of the following elements, viz. a tubular trolley-pole swinging vertically from a standard, astationary ratchet secured to said standard, a pawl pivotally hung from the trolley-pole so as to be normally in engagement with the ratchet, a trolley-truck pivoted to the pole near its upper end, an arm or lever pivotally secured to the pole near its upper end, held normally forward or downward by a spring and adapted to be pressed upward or outward by the said truck when. the trolley is forced down by its contact with the under side of the wire, and a cord or wire extending from said swinging arm or lever down through the trolley-pole to said pawl, whereby the pawl is held out of engagement with the ratchet when the trolley is in contact with the under side of the wire and is allowed to engage said ratchet when the trolley slips off the wire, sub stantially as set forth.

2. In a trolley-pole and connections thercwith for electric cars, the combination of the following elements,viz. a tubular trolley-pole swinging vertically from a standard, a toothed frame secured to said standard, a pawl. pivotally hung from the trolley-pole, a trolley- I truck pivoted to the pole near its upper end, a cord or wire having its lower end connected with the pawl and extending up through the pole, and mechanism connected with said cord and intermediate therewith and with the truck whereby the cord is tightened and the pawl held out of engagement with the toothed frame when the trolley is in contact with the under side of the wire and the cord loosened and the pawl placed in engagement therewith when the trolley slips off the wire, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the standard 6 provided with the curved ratchet S i", the tubular trolley-pole swinging vertically from said standard, the pawl P P pivotally hung from said pole next the ratchet, the trolley-truck IIS 1) provided with the cross-pin L and pivotally secured to the trolley-pole near its upper end, the curved lever or arm H pivotally secured to the under side of the trolley-pole near its upper end and formed into the bearing-surface H and bent outer end H, a spring secured at its opposite ends to said portion H and to the pole, and the cord or Wire K secured at its opposite ends to the pawl and said arm or lever and extending through the tubular pole, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a trolley-pole for electric cars, the combination of the portion B rigidly secured to the supporting portion A and having its un- 15 CHARLES H. FINSON.

7 WVitnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, E. A. WooDBURY.

substantially as set 20 

